Direct payments by patients at the point of health care delivery, commonly known as user fees, lead to low utilization or exclusion of health care services on offer, difficult assessment of health needs and epidemic risks, and impoverish entire households. Vulnerable groups are particularly affected. over the past decade, many countries transitioned away from their user fee policies in favor of free health care initiatives for all or for specific population groups, such as pregnant women, children, and people with certain illnesses.

MSF has been providing medical and humanitarian assistance to asylum seekers and migrants in Greece since 1996. In 2014, MSF expanded its activities in Greece to meet the needs of asylum seekers arriving on the Greek islands and mainland from Turkey. Since 2016, MSF medical teams in Greece have offered services including primary healthcare, treatment for chronic diseases, sexual and reproductive healthcare, physiotherapy and mental healthcare. Today, MSF provides medical services in the wider area of Athens, in Epirus, as well as on the islands of Lesvos and Samos.

This week, researchers, policy makers, clinicians and activists involved in the HIV response will attend ICASA2017, in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Being at the heart of West and Central Africa, there is no better place for me and my medical colleagues at MSF to call out some of the main reasons preventing millions of people in the region from getting lifesaving HIV treatment. These must be addressed for this year’s theme of ‘delivering differently’ to be realised.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017 — To enable Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams to continue to help the displaced people living in and around Kalémie in Tanganyika province, the IKEA Foundation has stepped forward to give a € 1,4 million grant to the organisation.

KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO—More aid is urgently needed in rural areas of Kasai province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as people come out of hiding a year after conflict flared in the region, according to the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Alarming levels of malnutrition among young children indicate the severity of this neglected crisis.

In the city of Dundo, in northern Angola, MSF teams are providing assistance to Congolese refugees who fled violence in the Kasai region of Democratic Republic of Congo. MSF head of mission Joao Martins describes how a health emergency was brought under control.

What was the situation for Congolese refugees when you arrived in Dundo in April?

After a year in hiding, destitute returnees are left to cope on their own

Monday, October 30, 2017 — Kinshasa/London: More aid is urgently needed in the rural areas of Kasai, central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as people come out of hiding a year after conflict flared in the region, said international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) today.

MSF has treated more than 18,000 cholera patients across Democratic Republic of Congo this year.

Aline Kaendo knew how to keep her five-year-old son Aristide safe from cholera at home.

“We treat the water at home, but the children play in the lake, perhaps drink from it while they play, share food, and if they have bought it in the street, it may not have been prepared hygienically,” she says.

“They pick up fruit and eat it straight away – there are many ways in which my son could have become ill.”